Being blessed with a very mild winter there was a great deal
of work accomplished in the Test Garden this Spring. Beginning with January the
usual crew of volunteer workers began planting the new peninsula. A number of
large rhododendrons were "thinned" out from the Test Garden and moved
across the bridge to the peninsula, other plants were donated for this specific
purpose. Of these were the 100 azalea Mollis hybrids donated by Mr. Arthur
Wright. These were all planted in a group on the slope above the main entrance path.
Only a small portion of the peninsula will be developed this Spring.
New paths have been constructed by the City Park Department,
but the main circulatory system will not be built until next year. The Park
Bureau has done extensive clearing and thinning for us which was necessary
before any beds could be planted.
By the first week of February there were R. 'Mucronulatum in
bloom, a few scattered flowers on some of the Gable and Glendale azaleas and
'Bric-a-brac' and plants of R. moupinense were almost bursting their buds.
On February 26th our winter descended in a snow storm followed by violent winds
and rain. The winds caused great damage from falling Cedars. The main loss was in
the complete destruction of a large specimen plant of 'Mrs. G. W. Leak' about 8
feet high and another equally large specimen which was literally ground to
pieces. Following this storm the temperature dropped into the 20 degree range
and remained with low nightly readings for about a week. However as the Island
is surrounded by water, its warming effects are wonderfully beneficial and none
of the plants were affected.
As this article is being written on March 12th there are
several varieties in bloom on the Island; lutescens, 'Bric-a-brac', Moupinense,
and 'Cornubia', 'Mucronulatum' and 'Praecox' are slightly frost bitten. Sutchuenense
is coming into bloom and will be in full bloom in about ten days. Leucaspis and
irroratum are almost in bloom.
We have had a number of very fine varieties donated to the
Test Garden. Among these is the excellent collection of eastern native azaleas
from Mr. S. D. Coleman. These will be added to the existing planting of native
azaleas and should give a wonderful opportunity to study the various types of
indigenous material. Another outstanding contribution was the specimen R.
albiflorum from Mr. Fred Sievers. This plant is native to the Cascade range from
British Columbia to Oregon and is found from the 5,000 foot elevation to timber
line. An excellent article was written on this plant for the October 1952
Quarterly Bulletin.